Introducing myself

[vavroom]

Hello all,

Very new to this forum, and to cheesemaking. I've had an interest for a long time though.

I grew up in Montréal, Québec, next to a cheesemonger that offered about 300 different cheeses, so I was spoiled, and developped taste for a wide variety of cheeses. I trained as a chef, and worked in the industry for many years, but had to quit after I started using a wheelchair full time - not many kitchens are wheelchair friendly.

I now live in New Zealand, and run a food/cooking website as a hobby. http://en.wheelinggourmet.com.

I recently attended a 1 day workshop where we did camembert, quark, mozarella, mascarpone, ricotta and yogurt. Wonderful stuff. I started a batch of camembert, but made a couple mistakes and had to ditch those (main one was to let them age on treated bamboo. yuck).

I will be exploring washed rinds, both cow and goat. I have access to raw milk for both these beasties. But before introducing that, I'll be doing a few successful batches with commercial, pasteurised milk.

I look forward to learn from this forum, and give back as much as I can.

[MarkShelton]

Welcome Vavroom!
I checked out the site briefly, and it looks really good! It certainly puts things in a whole new perspective when I imagine doing all of my cooking sitting down. It's pretty inspirational that you continue to do it, and you put yourself out there to teach others.

Access to raw milk is a definite plus, but I understand the cost and convenience of supermarket milk outweighs that until you get the hang of things. That's how I started out. Nothing beats the taste and authenticity of using farm-fresh milk, though.

I'll have to follow your posts on washed rind cheeses. It's something I haven't quite (successfully) delved into.

Good luck!

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome Nic. I also checked out your bog very professional looking.

[padams]

Welcome!  It is a pleasure to have you here!

I am very impressed by your blog; last february I found myself bound to a walker when i was first attacked by multiple sclerosis.  I have since regained my strength and most of my dexterity, however I am finding that I have had to relearn to cook some of the simplest things!

You are quite an inspiration, and i am sure we will learn as much from you as you learn from us!

[Cheese Head]

Howdy Nic, what others said, also if you get a minute in a new/separate thread, I'm sure I and others would like to see a quick review of that workshop. Several othershere in NZ, me. I grew up in Vancouver Canada but live in Houston, Texas, cheers!

[vavroom]

Thanks for the warm welcome

I've already written a review of the workshop, it's on my site
http://en.wheelinggourmet.com/blog/attending-cheesemaker-for-a-day-workshop/

I guess I can repost on the forum here. Where would be the best place to do so?

Glad you guys and gals like my site. A lot of work going into that. Takes about 7 to 10 hours to redact each recipe!

//Edit: I just notice I now have "1 Cheese". How does that number grow? Is it based on posts or???

Cheers

[Cheese Head]

Morning (here) Nic

I try to give everyone who posts an Intro a Thumbs Up which gets you a cheese (I just relaced the thumbs up image in the forum software with an image of a cheese as I thought more fun, sadly it causes confusion). It's an attaboy system for when you like (or don't) someones post.

Sorry missed your post, if you like, in our Library there is a section on Courses.

[FarmerJd]

Welcome to the forum. I also enjoyed your website. Good luck.